Maeyken Wouters (d. 1595)
Maeyken Wouters (Wauters, Wolters), an Anabaptist martyr, drowned at Liege (Luik) in Belgium, together with Aeltjen Baten. On the same day they were thrown from a bridge into the Maas River. According to van Braght this happened on 24 July 1595 after the women had stayed in prison for ten weeks. The statement of Daris (Bax II, 344) that the execution took place on 29 October 1593 is not very tenable, since Maeyken's letter is dated 1595. Aeltgen was a rather aged woman, Maeyken rather young and unmarried. Both were natives of Zonhoven in the territory of Vogelsanck, Belgian province of Limburg. The accurate and detailed account in the Martyrs' Mirror portrays their firm faith in trial and even in torture. In prison Maeyken wrote a letter to her parents and further to "all the believ ers (i.e., members of the congregation) and all who love the truth." These martyrs are celebrated in the hymn "Voorwaer 't dient niet versweghen, dees werelts blintheyt groot" (The great blindness of this world should not be concealed) found in Veelderhande Liedekens of Lenaerdt Clock (Haarlem, 1598) and other Dutch hymnals.
Bibliography
Bax, Willem. Het protestantisme in het bisdom Luik en vooral te Maastricht. s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff, 1937-1941: II, 344-347.
Braght, Thieleman J. van. Het Bloedigh Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel der Doopsgesinde of Weereloose Christenen, Die om 't getuygenis van Jesus haren Salighmaker geleden hebben ende gedood zijn van Christi tijd of tot desen tijd toe. Den Tweeden Druk. Amsterdam: Hieronymus Sweerts, 1685: Part II, 789-792.
Braght, Thieleman J. van. The Bloody Theatre or Martyrs' Mirror of the Defenseless Christians Who Baptized Only upon Confession of Faith and Who Suffered and Died for the Testimony of Jesus Their Saviour . . . to the Year A.D. 1660. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1951: 1091-1093 f. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.
| Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Maeyken Wouters (d. 1595)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maeyken_Wouters_(d._1595)&oldid=129966.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1957). Maeyken Wouters (d. 1595). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Maeyken_Wouters_(d._1595)&oldid=129966.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 440. All rights reserved.
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